Puncture
by Just Another Soul
Summary: Sawyer should have known this was going to happen when Rotton asked her if she could come over to Shenhua's residence and bring some latex gloves and a surgical mask. Short ficlet.


**Puncture**

Disclaimer: Black Lagoon and its characters © Rei Hiroe

* * *

Short, shallow breaths were heard throughout the room. The petite form lay reclined on a black leather chair, bound to the seat, a bright light shining above in the darkness. She was nervous.

"Don't worry, Sawyer. Just relax," Rotton advised. He put his hand on hers and pet it tenderly, trying to coax her out of her anxious state. The outline of his head was silhouetted in the light. His nose and mouth were covered by a surgical mask not unlike those that Sawyer used during her cleaning jobs. She looked at the sterilized needles lying on the metal tray sitting beside Rotton. Her muscles tensed.

"There's no need to be nervous," the Wizard reassured, dabbing at her pale flesh with a cotton ball laced with an antibacterial fluid. "You're in good hands. I did this to many people when I was a teenager. It was quite a successful venture for me. I was always immaculate. That's a detail you appreciate, correct?" Sawyer couldn't help but glare at the silver haired man. Here she was strapped to a reclining chair, staring up at a light like she was an interrogation victim and he was talking to her casually, as if they were sitting in a cafe. She looked at the needles again. And what did he say? He did this, _this_ to other people when he was a teenager?

Sadist.

"Rotton, you better do this quick. Sawyer is getting scared," the Taiwanese mercenary commented, a large smile on her face. Sawyer exhaled coarsely. What made this entire ordeal worse was that Shenhua was watching it. If she knew Sawyer was afraid, then why wasn't she doing anything to get her away from the situation? Shenhua could've knocked Rotton out and unstrapped her from the chair. But no, instead of taking mercy upon her, Shenhua just sat there and smiled, knowing what was to come.

Voyeur.

"Alright, that's good," said Rotton aloud, throwing the cotton ball away. Light glinted off of the sterilized needle as Rotton's latex covered hand picked it up off the tray. Sawyer's eyes slightly widened, before shutting them tightly. As twisted and macabre as she was, Sawyer the Cleaner _hated_ needles. She didn't mind when it was another person being violated by the pointed objects, but if they were being used on _her..._ The mere thought of it made her shudder. It was no surprise that she had caused quite a few doctors a great deal of grief in her past. It was bad enough when she was getting _one_ shot from a stranger, but now she was going to be punctured _multiple_ times by Rotton while Shenhua looked on.

Sawyer sighed. They had all been talking about this for weeks now. The words were always said in a joking manner, so Sawyer never took any of it seriously. But now here she was, strapped to a chair and about to be _violated_ by tiny, metallic points. She should have known this was going to happen when Rotton asked her if she could come over to Shenhua's residence and bring some latex gloves and a surgical mask. She should have known she was going to be ambushed and forced into enduring _this_.

Sawyer bit her lip as Rotton took the cold point and sunk it into her flesh. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of a whimper, and there was certainly no way she was going to cry. But none of that could change the fact that it still _hurt_. One after another, the Cleaner winced as the Wizard poked and skewered, each motion being quick and precise. Shenhua held her jaw in her hand and observed silently, one eyebrow cocked in interest. She never knew the silver haired man had experience in this type of activity, nor did she think the pale skinned woman with the scarred neck would be quite so squeamish underneath his ministrations. It was a rather fascinating scene to watch.

After only a few minutes, the Wizard stopped.

"Okay, we're all done," Rotton said as he threw the final needle away in a proper trash receptacle, the latex gloves shortly following. Shenhua took this as her cue and undid the belts across Sawyer's chest that kept her confined to the seat. The assassin then walked over to a corner and hit a light switch, illuminating the entire room. The Cleaner opened her eyes and slowly sat up. Finally, the ordeal was over. She saw Rotton standing by her side. The surgical mask was still concealing the lower half of his face. She shot him a dirty look and took her time to assess the situation before the choker-styled Ultravoice around her neck emitted a static sigh. She held her head down in relief.

**"****So... How do I... look...?"** Sawyer asked cautiously. Rotton lowered the mask so it rested loosely around his neck, revealing a brilliant smile.

"You look cool. Very cool," he said proudly.

"Rotton did a good job. See for yourself," Shenhua said as handed a mirror to Sawyer. The cleaner took the mirror and slightly turned her head left, then right. She allowed herself to show a small, unguarded smile.

"Do you like them?" Rotton asked. The ghost woman nodded, still admiring the work in the mirror, her previous fears and tensions gone. Shenhua sat next to Sawyer, snickering.

"See? You make big deal out of nothing. Needles not so bad."

**"****I guess... but why did you two... go out of your way... to do this?"**

"We have known that you've wanted to get your ears pierced for quite a while now," said Rotton, "Shenhua and I assumed that you would never go to a parlor and ask because of your needle phobia, so we both decided to lure you here so I could perform the piercings myself. It seemed to be a rational decision since I have previous experience with performing the task in a safe manner." Judging by the multiple piercings on Rotton's ears, that was a believable statement.

"So, you _really_ like them?" Shenhua asked. Sawyer examined the various silver rings and studs adorning her ears in the mirror.

**"****Yes... I really like them,"** said the Cleaner honestly. **"Thank you... for doing this for me... I've wanted them... for a long time."** Her eyes then formed a glare.

**"****But you two... could have sat me down... and told me... Rotton was going to pierce my ears... instead of grabbing me... and **_**strapping me to a chair**_**... and **_**then**_ **telling me... you were going to pierce them," **Sawyer said irritably. Rotton looked down as a few pangs of guilt struck him. Shenhua scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"We had to use force. If we tell you about piercing beforehand and not strap you to chair, you would have run away. You big baby."

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N:** This is a semi-companion to my other story "Joints."

The inspiration for this came from too much time spent analyzing character designs in the manga. In volume 6, Sawyer didn't have any piercings on her ears, yet when we see her again in volume 8, both of her ears are pierced (lobe, conch, snug _and_ cartilage, mind you). This is basically what I imagined what may have happened between volumes.

Cheers.


End file.
